'aluminum-iron-based' originates from Modern English by compounding the names of two metals and the adjectival combining element '-based': specifically 'aluminum' + 'iron' + 'base(d)', where 'aluminum' refers to the metal named after New Latin 'alumen' (alum), 'iron' refers to the metal from Old English roots, and '-based' indicates 'having as a base or foundation.'

'aluminum' derives from New Latin 'alumen' (meaning 'alum'), later modernized to 'aluminium' and then to the US form 'aluminum' in the 19th century; 'iron' comes from Old English 'īsarn/īsern' (from Proto-Germanic '*īsarną'); 'base' comes via Old French from Latin/Greek 'basis' meaning 'foundation' and in modern English produces the combining adjective '-based' (e.g., 'coal-based', 'plant-based'). These elements were combined in recent technical and scientific usage to form the compound adjective 'aluminum-iron-based.'

Initially the component words denoted the individual metals ('alumen' → alum/aluminum; 'īsarn' → iron) and 'basis' meant 'foundation'; over time they were combined in modern technical English to mean 'having aluminum and iron as the primary base (components),' a specialized descriptive term.